March Mission Madness: Central South District is “One” in Missions.
Iglesia Fuente De Vida received a welcome facelift thanks to dozens of South Central District volunteers who tackled seven projects on their Saturday workday.
The transformation that occurred between the morning hours and the afternoon hours was astounding. On March 5, almost 100 volunteers from 12 different United Methodist Churches helped to revitalize and repair the facilities for
Iglesia Fuente De Vida
. In one day’s time teams painted rooms, replaced flooring, built and installed a new sign, planted new landscaping, and power washed the whole facility. The work project followed the District theme for 2016: “We are One”.
“We are one in ministry together,” said Andy Noel, Superintendent of Central South. “The people who showed up to help represent the diversity of populations that makes our district so special. We come from different churches, cultures, and backgrounds, but we are one in our love for the Lord and our desire to serve.”
The biggest project was the demolition and replacement of the old playground. “When our church members saw the dangerous condition of the playground, we knew exactly what our next job was,” said Rev. Jeff Powers of Westminster United Methodist Church. “In very little time we were able to raise $6,000 to provide new, beautiful playground equipment in spite of the instruction manual that was over 100 pages long.”
Westminster
has been at the forefront of leading the renovation of Iglesia. The church shared a portion of its capital campaign to be able to make many repairs and replace the sanctuary roof.
On-the-Spot Fundraising
In addition to all of the work done at the District Workday, an additional $10,000 was raised at lunchtime to replace the Fellowship Hall Roof. “We were about $10,000 short of replacing the roof so the Central South District moved quickly, offering to match up to $5,000 in gifts that would go towards the last roofing job. The money was raised in about 20 minutes,” Jeff adds.
Iglesia
is a Hispanic Mission Church that serves on the north side of Loop 610 in Houston and ministers out of the former Oakwood United Methodist Church building. Currently almost 80 worship there every Sunday.
“It was amazing to see the difference from when we arrived on the property and when we drove off,” adds Central South Administrative Assistant Donna Alexander. “The sidewalks were dark and the wood looked black until we power washed it to reveal beautiful red wood. All in all it was just a great day for all of us.”
There are still opportunities to help Iglesia have a great facility. If your church would like to make a gift to the project, send it to the Central South District office at 1410 Lee Street, Houston, Texas 77009.